Efforts to impeach US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will have no bearing on the $368bn plan to arm Australia with nuclear submarines, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says.
Mr Hegseth on Wednesday (AEDT) narrowly survived a vote to impeach him over “high crimes and misdemeanours” allegedly committed during the military operations he has overseen, including the Iran conflict.
While the vote – led by a member of his own Republican Party – failed, he is likely to face further attempts to remove him when the next congress starts in January and his Democratic opponents control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
With AUKUS hinging on the US making good on its commitment to provide Australia with three Virginia-class submarines, Mr Marles was asked what the efforts to remove Mr Hegseth could mean for Australia.
Defence Minister Richard Marles (right) says he has ‘worked very closely’ with US counterpart Pete Hegseth (left). Picture: NewsWire / Handout / US Department of War
He said it was “fundamentally a matter for the United States” but stressed the Albanese government would work with any US administration.
“We work very closely with the administration of the day, and I have worked very closely with Pete Hegseth,” he told News24, adding that AUKUS is “proceeding at a pace”.
“The USS Colorado, a US Virginia-class submarine, is in Perth right now. I’m heading over there in the next day or so to see it.
“AUKUS is happening, our alliance is happening, and all of that continues unimpeded.”
Holding a rare press conference after the vote against him failed, Mr Hegseth decried it as a “farce”.
“It’s a farce and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” he said.
“For the first time in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America’s military is being attacked not for losing conflicts with our enemies but for winning them.
“We will not apologise for putting American lives first.”
Mr Hegseth (left) has narrowly survived a vote to impeach him. Picture: NewsWire / Pool / Doug Mills
He went on to say the impeachment effort sent a message to Washington’s adversaries “that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations”.
“This is not patriotism, this is sabotage,” Mr Hegseth said.
His tenure as Pentagon chief has been defined by an attempt to rebrand the US military, temporarily changing the Department of Defence to the Department of War as well as his own title from secretary of defence to secretary of war as part of an “anti-woke” agenda.
He has also fired senior generals for not aligning with the Trump administration’s vision.
On the battlefield, Mr Hegseth’s decisions have been severely criticised, with the conflict in Iran exposing the US’s under-preparedness for a prolonged campaign.
Last month he drew international condemnation – including from Australia – for seeking to livestream the firing squad execution of a wheelchair-bound death row inmate.
US President Donald Trump later axed the plan.
